Does this verify live backlinks?

No. It only compares pasted lists. Refresh exports when stale data risks wasted outreach.

Why might overlap be high but gaps low?

You may already replicate competitor links—switch angle or target tertiary publishers.

Spammy gap domains at the top?

Filter with **toxic backlink detector** heuristics or manual review before investing effort.

Can I paste bare domains without https?

Prefer full URLs to match your export format. Bare hosts may parse via a fallback, but verify counts in a small sample first.

Backlinks & Anchors

Live

Competitor Backlink Gap

Find sites linking to your competitors but not to you.

Your backlinks

One URL per line.

Competitor backlinks

One block per competitor.

Competitor 1

Competitor 2

Your domains

Gap domains

Overlap

Linking domains you don't have

Multi-competitor matches first — best outreach prospects.

Domain	Competitors linking	Total links
semrush.com	2/2	2
forbes.com	2/2	2
wired.com	2/2	2
theverge.com	1/2	1
nytimes.com	1/2	1
github.com	1/2	1

X / Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Start here · What does competitor backlink gap mean here?

A gap domain links to one or more competitors but not to your domain in the pasted lists—classic outreach prospecting.

Paste referring URLs one per line in Your backlinks and in each Competitor block. The tool extracts hosts, dedupes, and counts how many competitor pastes include each gap domain.

Rows sort so domains that appear on more competitor lists rise first. Copy grabs up to the top 50 gap hosts for spreadsheets or CRM notes. The Overlap stat counts domains you already share with at least one competitor paste.

When to use this tool

Prospecting after a link intersect pass
Use gaps to widen beyond domains that already link to every rival.
Pitch deck prep
Export counts of gap domains and overlap to show leadership where competitors earned links you did not.
International competitor sets
Paste EU versus US competitor lists to see region-specific gap hosts.
Clean-up after mergers
Compare legacy brand domains against the new canonical site list to find missing inherited links.

Examples

Walk through these with the form above — they are practice scenarios, not live data.

Three competitors

Try this

Add three competitor pastes so badges read 2/3 when two lists share a gap domain.

What to look for

Prioritize 3/3 gaps first—every competitor trusts that publisher.

Single competitor mode

Try this

Leave one competitor column filled for a simple "links to them, not us" list.

What to look for

Still works; counts show 1/1 and sorting focuses on total competitor link volume when ties appear.

Short tutorial

Follow in order the first time you use the tool; later you can skip to the step you need.

Step 1 — Export referring domains
Pull comparable windows from your SEO tool or Search Console link export.
Step 2 — Paste your URLs
One full URL per line as your exports provide. Host parsing strips www for matching consistency.
Step 3 — Add competitor columns
Click + competitor to append another paste block when pitching multi-brand sets.
Step 4 — Read gap table columns
Domain, competitors linking count, and total link tally inform outreach difficulty.
Step 5 — Pair with profile analysis
Send promising hosts through referring domain analyzer and anchor text analyzer before emailing.

More detail

New here? Skim Start here first, then run one Examples scenario in the form above.

Competitor Backlink Gap does one job: find sites linking to your competitors but not to you. It lives under Backlinks & Anchors on SEOToolkits, where the beginner idea is simple: Backlink SEO studies links from other sites because those links can pass trust, context, and referral traffic.

FAQ

Does this verify live backlinks?: No. It only compares pasted lists. Refresh exports when stale data risks wasted outreach.
Why might overlap be high but gaps low?: You may already replicate competitor links—switch angle or target tertiary publishers.
Spammy gap domains at the top?: Filter with toxic backlink detector heuristics or manual review before investing effort.
Can I paste bare domains without https?: Prefer full URLs to match your export format. Bare hosts may parse via a fallback, but verify counts in a small sample first.